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Update: E-70 Petition on the torture of Afghan detainees

Petition E-70 to the Government of Canada calls for an independent judicial commission of inquiry into Canada’s approach to Afghan detainees in Canadian custody. Please sign the petition! We have until April 15th, 2016 to let the Government of Canada know just how important an issue we think this is!

The author of the petition is former NDP MP and Osgoode Hall law professor Craig Martin Scott. He describes his reasons for this petition in the following Facebook post:

Our justice system and our parliamentary institutions have both failed in getting to the bottom of this chapter in our history. And in the process not only were human rights seriously violated but also our own democracy was undermined by our inability to hold Canadian state actors to account. Five years of working on this issue has led me to the conclusion that the only way we will know the truth and the only way that some form of real accountability will eventually be possible is to have a judicial commission of inquiry established under the Inquiries Act.

In addition to making the case for ensuring that there is no impunity for alleged complicity in torture, Craig Scott also argues passionately for the utility of e-petitions as a tool of civil engagement:

Ultimately, it all depends on citizens themselves wanting to make change happen in a more participatory way than typically happens in our current politics. Making the transition from MP (2012-2015) to engaged citizen is something I look forward to, and I very much hope you will join me in supporting the call for a commission of inquiry through E-70.

Please sign the petition! We have until April 15th, 2016 to let the Government of Canada know just how important an issue we think this is!

To sign the petition, click here and follow the step by step instructions.

3 Responses to “Update: E-70 Petition on the torture of Afghan detainees”

Our justice system and our parliamentary institutions have both failed in getting to the bottom of this chapter in our history. And in the process not only were human rights seriously violated but also our own democracy was undermined by our inability to hold Canadian state actors to account. Five years of working on this issue has led me to the conclusion that the only way we will know the truth and the only way that some form of real accountability will eventually be possible is to have a judicial commission of inquiry established under the Inquiries Act.

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